Of screws and nails

[mike_wood]

I have recently moved and one of the jobs I had to do at the old house was to refurbish the two decks. When I built them ~15 yrs ago I used almost all screws. Most were from McFeelys but some were borg bought. After removing a fair number of them the difference was startling. The borg screws were in terrible shape - almost totally rusted - I could hardly extract them without breaking them off. Of course none were holding supporting structures. The McFeelys screws, except for the heads, had no rust at all and were in excellent shape. This re-enforced my basic belief that MF screws are worth the effort to order.

I used some ring shank nails in a few places & had to remove them. Boy do they work as advertised. They felt like they were cemented in place.

[Glennbear]

Do you recall what kind of coating the BORG screws had ? I am not defending them by any means but coating technology has changed a lot in 15 years. I have been having good success with the latest breed of BORG screws with the "Evergard" coating but older straight galvanized screws that I used did indeed not last.

[JimmyC]

Whether the new borg srews are better than the old ones doesn't matter to me. I've got to redo my decking and will probably now spend the extra on the MF, because at least I know that they're good.

Mike, were the MF screws their regular deck screws or were they the stainless type ?

Thanks,
Jimmy

[mike_wood]

The MF screws were regular galvanized not SS.

As to the more recent coatings, I agree the Borg has likely changed to better coatings with the change in treated wood. But so has MF and likely they remain superior.

[JimmyC]

Originally Posted by mike_wood

The MF screws were regular galvanized not SS.

As to the more recent coatings, I agree the Borg has likely changed to better coatings with the change in treated wood. But so has MF and likely they remain superior.

Thanks Mike !

Jimmy

[gazzer]

Bought some 1/4" lag screws from HD last week. Every single one sheared (easily) when I snugged them with the 5" handled wrench I was using. I had some old ones that I had laying around (stray nuts & bolts can) that worked fine with the same treatment.

I have had great luck with anything from McFeelys, also from Jamestown Distributors.

-G

[Gotcha6]

Are you re - using any of the old lumber in your refurb? If so, you need to be sure whatever fastener you use is compatible with CCA. Since the industry has moved away from this treatment method, the fasteners have also had to change. I had the same thing happen with some 20d nails used in CCA. They rusted completely through on a walk plank & gave me the 'Pa Kettle' treatment one day. They were hot dipped galvanized too!

[JimmyC]

You've got a great point Dennis, I will be flipping my boards over because the bottom looks like new.

Jimmy